Dakota Project

 Today I attended a seminar at Winona State University in their student center ballroom. I sat with a couple of teachers and one other lady from the community. The teachers were glad to see such a big turnout and that members of the public were in attendance. Six speakers from the Prairie Island area came to speak. One spoke about natural law and inherent rights. He spoke about the 1837 and 1851 treaties. According to the treaties, the town of Winona belongs to the Dakota. After the 1862 uprising, all treaties were abrogated. He also said, and I found this surprising, conservative Supreme Court judge, Neil Gorsuch, has always voted in favor of Native rights. There were about six speakers talking about land rights, land trusts, the environment, social work, art, and community relations. The main message I took away from this three hour session is that Mitakuye Owasin or we are all related.